


Skeeter Bites

by LadyKes



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-06
Updated: 2014-09-06
Packaged: 2018-02-16 07:26:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2261052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyKes/pseuds/LadyKes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the aftermath of a mutual tragedy, Hermione and Viktor get to know each other again.  Rita Skeeter, of course, has her own perspective on the situation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Skeeter Bites

_More Tragedy for Harry Potter - Rita Skeeter (August 15, 2020)_

_The Wizarding World’s most famously tragic figure has suffered yet another blow.  Ronald Weasley, Harry Potter’s long-time shadow, was recently killed in  what is reported to have been a Muggle road accident.  Is the Ministry hiding his true cause of death?  Could this be related to the Triwizard Curse?  Viktor Krum, Quidditch World Cup Champion, has just suffered his own tragedy in the recent loss of his wife Marija.  And of course, Fleur Delacour-Weasley has had her own tragedies in her marriage to maimed cursebreaker Bill Weasley._

_(cont’d on p. 5)_

 

Not one word.  Hermione laughed to herself to avoid crying at the way Rita had made the whole article about Harry and not at all about Ron or his life.  Even Viktor’s wife’s name was mentioned, but she wasn’t and Rose and Hugo weren’t.   They didn’t matter to Rita and they never had.  Even with the laugh, a sob nearly slipped out.

She felt like she was drowning in grief and in Weasleys, as ungrateful as she felt for even thinking that.  The warmth and the love of the whole clan had surrounded her and the children constantly for the last two weeks and she was glad, she truly was, but she was also enjoying a moment of quiet.  Hugo and Rose were at Harry and Ginny’s for the weekend.  She hadn’t wanted to let them go out of an irrational fear that they’d never come back, but she knew they needed to spend time with their cousins.  They needed to not be in a house full of grief and memories of a father who had been so dear to them.

 She needed that too, but it wasn’t an option for her, not really.  Even her boss had insisted that she take time off even after she insisted she didn’t need to and, more importantly, didn’t want to.  She just wanted to get back to normal life, or as normal as her life would be now without Ron.  Was Viktor feeling the same?  Perhaps she should write him a short note of condolences.  They were only acquaintances these days, but he might appreciate a note that didn't demand or or offer anything.  Yes, she’d do that.  She knew she had appreciated that kind of note, and he might feel the same.

 

_News and Notes from Rita Skeeter -  February 27, 2021_

_Quidditch World Cup Champion and Bulgarian Bon-Bon Viktor Krum was spotted in Muggle London last week.  Sources say he was seen entering a coffee shop, where he stayed for over two hours.  Does this have anything to do with the rumors that the grieving widower is “seeking” to escape his life in Bulgaria?  Or perhaps that he’s caught the hottest modelwitch of the hour, Miss Penelope Morgan?_

 

Another day, another “conjecture” by Rita, and Hermione rolled her eyes.  She knew exactly why Viktor had been in that coffee shop and it hadn’t had anything to do with models.  He’d been meeting her, and anyone less like a model she’d yet to meet.  Rita would agree with that, she was sure.

He’d replied to her note expressing his own polite condolences on her loss and she’d written back out of equal politeness.  It could have been the end of it, but they’d continued to owl sporadically and then more regularly.  As they did, she remembered what it was that she’d appreciated in his friendship.  His mind was far more active and nimble than he generally showed, though he didn’t behave stupidly in public by any means.  They’d always been able to talk about nearly anything even in the midst of teenaged awkwardness and hormones, of which there were many on both sides.

Eventually, with the prodding of her grief counselor, she’d suggested that they meet for coffee.  She wasn’t trying to begin anything, not so soon after Ron and Marija’s respective deaths, but as her counselor noted sagely, she and Viktor had a lot in common right now.  It might help them both to talk about it. He’d agreed and they’d arranged the meeting in Muggle London after their respective children had gone back to school.  Both of them were too recognizable in wizarding circles to meet anywhere near Diagon Alley without provoking comment and London had a coffee shop every square centimeter, it seemed.

It had been awkward at first, as she’d expected it to be, but eventually that had smoothed over.  His accent was softer and his hair was a little grey, but in many ways he was still the same Viktor.   She wondered what he saw when he looked at her.  Did he see a Hermione that was a little grey but still the same woman?    Did he see the weight of grief that sometimes seemed to press her into the ground?  She thought perhaps he did, as she saw it in him.

The two hours flew by, but they’d set a starting and ending time, again at the suggestion of her counselor, and she thought it was best to stick to that.   They could always meet again if needed or wanted, but having a set time avoided either of them feeling like they had to spend more time with the other person if it didn’t work out.   It did, though, and so she diffidently suggested that they keep meeting for coffee periodically.  Viktor’s smile was the most genuine, least grief-lined thing she’d seen from him all day.

 

_Krumcakes!  Seeker moves to London - Rita Skeeter (October 16, 2021)_

_My ever-reliable sources have let me know that Viktor Krum, the retired and recently single Quidditch World Cup champion, has purchased a home in one of the fashionably downmarket suburbs of London.  Could this indicate that his rumored Quidditch millions have run out?  Perhaps he’s fleeing whispers of a pureblood backlash in Eastern Europe?  Or possibly his on and off relationship with Miss Penelope Morgan is a little more on?_

 

Actually, it was none of the above, and this time Hermione stifled a chuckle in the middle of the Ministry canteen.  Viktor was moving to London because he was looking for a coaching job.   He’d kept his home in Bulgaria, but Galina and Stoyan had recently begun attending Hogwarts, so it made sense for him to have a job and a flat in the UK as well.  It was difficult for them all to move away from their extended families, but he’d decided to do it after long discussions with Hermione about a Hogwarts education and the business opportunities available in the UK.    And yes, privately, he was also moving to be a bit closer to her, though not in a romantic sense.   It felt rather juvenile to call him a best friend, but over the past year they had become even closer than they’d been in her fourth year at Hogwarts.  She spoke to Viktor more often than she spoke to nearly anyone she wasn’t related to by blood or marriage.  They’d even carefully introduced Lina and Stoyo to Rose and Hugo and then to the vast number of Weasley cousins a month or two ago.  It had been overwhelming at first, especially for shy Stoyo, but the cousins had accepted them relatively easily.  Now the most heated conflict between them all was about who got to have which Krum on their garden Quidditch team.

 She would be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that she still found Viktor attractive, and she suspected he felt the same way, but it had only been a short time since they’d lost their respective spouses.  They both needed more time, and for now, needed friendship much more than they needed anything else.  Their children needed that too, and the children were the most important people in this situation.   

 

_A Ring for Hermione Granger?  - Rita Skeeter (July 29, 2023)_

_Just in time for Harry Potter’s birthday, Hermione Granger has been spotted wearing a new ring on her left finger.   My eagle-eyed sources noticed that her wedding ring had been removed when she left her poor orphaned children at King’s Cross last September, but no one had expected a new ring to replace it.  Is this desperation to appear wanted by an on-the-shelf middle-aged witch?  Or has she taken up with a new man with what might be considered unseemly haste after the tragic loss of Harry Potter’s best friend? What does Harry think of all this?_

 

“Orphaned means no parents, yes?” Viktor asked, puzzling over Rita’s latest column.   

“It does, and therefore none of our children qualify,” she confirmed, sipping the tea he’d just brought her. “And I also didn’t _leave_ my children anywhere.  I stood there until they got themselves safely sorted into a carriage. Three times, actually, since they both forgot something and had to come back to the platform individually.”

“Da, I remember,” he chuckled.  “And I can say what Harry Potter thinks of new ring on finger.  He thinks:  Good!”

Harry did indeed think it was good, and Hermione smiled down at the heirloom sapphire on her finger.  It had been a gift from Viktor’s _baba_ to Viktor and also the ultimate sign that his family had accepted their carefully thought out and exhaustively discussed decision to remarry.   Viktor had received a Weasley (which he still pronounced with a slight V) sweater the previous Christmas, which was its own sign of acceptance.

“He does, and so does everyone else.  But are you sure this isn’t a sign of ‘desperation to appear wanted by an on-the-shelf middle-aged witch’?” Hermione teased, waving her left hand and the ring gently in the air.

Viktor’s response was not in words, but it did tend to indicate his disagreement with nearly every part of that statement.  The only part that was not in doubt was that Hermione was wanted.  

Once they’d resettled slightly mussed hair and clothing, they resumed their conversation.

“Well, we know Rita wouldn’t know the truth if it hit her on the head with a Bludger. I’m just glad she hasn’t started speculating which ‘man’ I might have ‘taken up with’ yet.  That’ll be in the next column, I’m sure,” she said dourly.  Viktor only smiled.

“ _Lyubim_ , you made Quidditch reference!  I am so proud,” he teased, which he knew would make her roll her eyes indulgently at him.

“Speaking of Quidditch, if you don’t leave now, you’ll be late to pick the children up from their day camp,” she reminded him, and he got up to leave, dropping a kiss on top of her head as he went.

His whistle faded into the distance as she stared at the paper without seeing it.  She’d felt like she was drowning in grief three years ago, and now she was sailing.  She still loved and missed Ron, and she knew Viktor still felt the same about Marija, but she also felt amazingly fortunate.  Some people didn’t get one happy marriage - she had the chance for two. 

And Rita?  Well, she could take a long walk off a short pier and hug an octopus.


End file.
